Acquiescence
by BurningTheMidnightOil
Summary: In all honesty, this past week had been filled with one frustrating screw up after another on his part Kagome wasn't speaking to him, and the others cast him evil glares and muttered disparaging comments under their breaths at every turn...


"_Speech_"

Non-Speech

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**Flashback**, Point of View, or Sceen change.

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Acquiescence:

To say that Inuyasha was not having a good day was a major understatement, and night had fallen as he sat in Goshinboku mulling over the day's events. In all honesty, this past week had been filled with one frustrating fuck up after another on his part; Kagome wasn't speaking to him, and the others cast him evil glares and muttered disparaging comments under their breaths at every turn.

He had gone to see Kikyo, not once but twice, and destroyed yet another of those damned weird contraptions that Kagome called an alarm clock. He staunchly maintained that it was not his fault the thing had scared him shitless when it went off shrieking that Kami awful noise; and in defense of his sensitive ears he had done the only natural thing and threw the Kami damned piece of crap as hard and as far away from him as he could.

Unfortunately, for him, the clock collided into the opposing wall half way crushing the strange device; the combined force and momentum of his throw caused it to merge with the wall, where it squealed until it sputtered and died. Kagome and Higurashi-sama had not been pleased with the clock-shaped hole in the wall of Kagome's bedroom, and the punishment of a ramen-less week and being sat five times was almost more than he could stand.

Kagome and taken her revenge by staying in her time, going to school and had left him to three days of the unrelenting torture known as Shippo. Upon her return, he had irrationally taken his displeasure out on her once again, and insulted the boxed lunch she had obviously taken great care in preparing; earning him yet another round of sits.

Matters had not gotten better after the requisite "Inuyasha's a baka" speech, the approaching new moon and the harsh glares of the others had set his nerves on edge. So it was with anticipation mixed with and evil sort of glee at the prospect of having someone to take his pent up anger out on, when Kouga arrived his tale- tale whirlwind kicking up dust in the distance, the acrid sent of wolf shit's stench filling the and drifting up his nostrils.

If he had been honest to himself, under **much** different circumstances he and Kouga could have been friends. All prospects for this happening in this lifetime were now non-existent and he hated the wolf youkai with his smooth words for one simple reason, Kagome. The very instant the bastard had dared to touch her sealed his fate, and if it was not enough that the little shit had successfully taken her away once before, he now added multiple insults to injury by daring to court her.

In Inuyasha's mind, kind, sweet, loving Kagome was **his**, and there was no way he was going to let that fucker take her from him. He wasn't nearly has as stupid as the others thought he was, he simply didn't show it. He knew how she felt about him, it blatantly oblivious to anyone with half a brain; but he was not free to return the affection, and so he continued to push her away.

The others simply refused to see things from his point of view, to him it had been not 50 years, but a mere matter of months since Kikyo had sealed him to the Goshinboku. It was completely irrational for them to expect to discard his feelings for the woman he had loved. Hell, he had been willing to turn **_human_** for her. He shuddered at the thought, his friends knew this; and yet they expected him to deny Kikyo for Kagome, and he was not fickle enough to do that.

When Kikyo had been dead, it had been easier to cope with; a sense of finality had come over him, and he had reconciled himself to the fact he was alive and she was not. Now, Kikyo was the undead, in a body of clay and a fragment of Kagome's soul was all that remained of the woman he had loved.

He had tried so very hard to convince himself that is didn't matter that her touch was cold, she didn't breathe, her lips and mouth dry and bitter. It was so painfully poignant in its clarity; Kikyo was no longer the woman he remembered and loved. Undeath had changed her, though he supposed it would change anyone; her love for him was tainted with hate and even though she knew the truth, he could see that she was not able to see past the last moments of her life.

All this changed nothing; he still loved her and always would. He could however, learn to let her go; and take revenge for her by killing that putrid pile of shit, Naraku. He owed her that much, at the very least. Revenge was all he could give her, nothing more; and he had never promised her anything more. Despite her claims, his life was his own, and he had a promise to Kagome to keep.

Kagome… Just the thought of her name sent shivers down his spine. Kagome had crept into his heart with an intensity and quickness that had him scared shitless.

The strength and ferocity of the feelings she inspired in him in the short period of time that he had known her, made everything he had ever felt for Kikyo seem pale in comparison. Kami help him, he loved Kagome, and he needed her as well.

He never felt right when she was gone; he found it hard to breathe with out her by his side; and he knew he was being a selfish bastard when he asked her to stay, but he knew he'd never be able to let her go.

That is why when that dumb shit wolf known as Kouga came around, he was more than willing to beat the holy living shit out of him. He thought back to how his earlier fight with the wolf shit had ended….

**

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**

**Flashback:**

It had started the same as any other of their fights, and he had been looking forward to a little time with his favorite punching bag.

Kouga had come whirling in, landed on his back, cooed at Kagome while clasping her hands and the dumbass mistook her look of irritation for one of endearment; though how he managed that was always a mystery to Inuyasha.

More than a little pissed at the fact the wolf was **still** on his back, he began the obligatory round of insults after digging his claws into Kouga's calf muscles. It had been a dirty move, but he wasn't in the mood to play nice and it had set the tone for the rest of the fight.

They traded blows, and insults and Inuyasha gave as good as he got. Sweat and blood were streaming down their faces and he was about to land a solid blow, when he heard Kagome yell out,

_"**ENOUGH**!_ _That's it! I have **had** it with the both of you!"_

Then she shouted his name, and that accursed command,

"_Inuyasha, Osuwari!"_ his face met and ate dirt, but her tirade merely continued without mercy.

"You can just SIT there and think about what jerk you are, and you **WILL** SIT until I have said **everything** I am going to say!"

His dog-ears were all that were visible from the crater that he was in and he thanked every Kami he could think of when she turned her assault on Kouga for his idiot remark,

"_Stupid dog shit, that's what you get for coming between me and MY woman!" _

Inuyasha smirked evilly against the dirt, nothing could save Kouga now.

"_**YOUR **woman?" _

The anger in Kagome's voice was near palatable. Inuyasha had never heard a sweeter sound than the resounding smack of Kagome's fist against Kouga's flesh; and as the Kotodama rosary's spell faded he stood up to see her backhand him again, a sight that he wanted to remember until the stars fell from the sky.

Inuyasha had to bite his tongue hard to keep from laughing at the vapid and shocked look that spread across Kouga's ugly mug. It was high time that Kouga learned that sometimes despite their great beauty some flowers have thorns.

Kagome however was far from done. She backed up and let him have again, this time with words.

_"Your woman? You CONCEDED Insufferable **BAKA!** You go around spouting declarations of unending love, yet you never stopped to think and ask me if I felt the same! **LOVE?** HOW can you HONESTLY say that when you don't **EVEN **know me? **KAMI! **I **BARELY** know YOU, you came and go like the breeze, spend a few minutes spouting said declarations and you're gone again."_

"_Your words are empty, and your promises meaningless. How easily you forget Ayame. Love? You know **nothing **of love."_

Inuyasha stood and watched in awe as Kagome reamed Kouga a new one, and never was he more thankful that he wasn't in Kouga's place. Then she turned and faced him, shoulders back, spine straight, eyes afire, her long raven tresses flowing with the wind; and he inhaled deeply as her gentle sent reached his nose.

Kamis above, she was magnificent. He swallowed visibly as she approached him, and the volume of her voice made him pin his ears flat.

"_And you Inuyasha! I am tired of pretending! Sick and tired of pretending not to care you when you go off chasing a memory. Why can't you see that?" _

Her tone softened just a touch, and she stood so close to him that he could feel her breath on his face, warm and gentle against his skin.

"_That's all she can ever be now, Inuyasha a memory. Kikyo is dead and I am not."_

His mind was numb, her sent surrounded him, and he had the insane, sudden urge to kiss her senseless. As she gazed into his, eyes what could he do but linger? They shone with deep pools of love and affection for him and she seemed to forget that they were not alone.

"_Just what is it about her that makes her so special? What is it that she gives you that I don't?"_

His tongue was tied, his brain too frozen to form an answer. She was close, Kami, she was excessively close. Inuyasha inhaled sharply as she reached up to touch his face her fingertips dancing along his cheek. When she spoke again, her tone was soft, her voice a hairsbreadth above a whisper,

"_Is she warm to your touch, Inuyasha? Can you feel her breath on your face? Does her sent please your senses?"_

Her hand slipped down to his mouth, his eyes went wide as her thumb brushed feather light across his lips, and as she did thus, she continued to speak,

"_When you kiss her, can you taste her sweetness?"_

She let her hand drift down to his chest, fingering his Kotodama beads,

"_Tell me Inuyasha, why do you persist in chasing the ghosts of your past when your future stands in front of you? Think about it, Inuyasha; why do you go to her when I can give you the one thing she cannot?"_

Think? Kami, he was too shocked by what she was saying to speak, and at some point he had forgotten to breathe.

"_A Family, Inuyasha I can give you that; I can give you a family. Think about what I have said Inuyasha, because I am waiting for you to tell me that I **am** enough."_

A thousand images rushed though his head at her words, and as she walked away, he wished he could run after her, sweep her up in his arms, kiss her like there was no tomorrow; but he couldn't. He was not free, not yet. He accepted this, and someday when he was free, he'd tell her that to him, the sun and moon rose in her eyes.

END of Flashback

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The night air was cool and gentle as it swayed through the branches of Goshinboku, the wind, and the fireflies were the only witnesses as Inuyasha whispered his confession, "_Kagome… You have **always** been enough…_"

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Author's Notes:

Acquiescence: Passive assent or agreement without protest.

This is the companion piece to "Enough."

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention; I don't own Inuyasha, or any other characters in this fan fiction. Furthermore, I am not making a red cent off this so you can't sue me!

-Burning


End file.
